Wow. Is all I have to say. I never knew I’d be in keto this long. It was my anniversary last week and on that Thursday, I ate whatever I wanted. I deserved it. Having that cheat day, must have helped- I weighed in today, and still lost bit on my inches. My pictures are still looking good, so I am on the right track.

I had to do it right – a well deserved meal on my anniversary

Fitting my workouts in, I’m back to lifting and running- alternating days, giving myself 3 lifting days, and 3 running days- given one rest day. I feel good when I workout, I feel strong and I have energy. I have been drinking my Apple cider vinegar with Lemon and I feel as though it helps me with my appetite as well.

All is great since its been seven weeks, I think the hardest thing I’m struggling with is comparing my keto journey with others. No, I have not lost more than 20 pounds like most, and some days I just want to quit this. I’m holding on, as long as the measurement tape and pictures are telling me the truth. Not one body is alike and so diets will affect us all differently- I have to keep reminding myself that. Thanks for the follow and I would appreciate any encouraging words!

3 pounds down! Wait, that’s it? THREE POUNDS? Okay, I’m not trying to sound ungrateful here, but I have been obsessing myself over all these low carb stories of people losing from 10 to 14 pounds the very first week they start Keto. Here I am, sitting here holding my down 3 pounds sign…

Re – thinking my choices of change of diet? Nah, but I can’t lie to you that I do think it often, but you can’t just quit.

Okay, its a success, and I will take it. I took my weekly pictures, and this time I just started measuring my waist which is something important to me. And I did my weekly weigh in. I am happy with my results. Will I post these pictures and numbers? Maybe. I just haven’t got the feeling to do it yet.

I’ve become quite the grill master since chicken and beef have been on my list.

How do I feel you ask? Eh, well I feel like my guy should write a post on here too…I’ve went through a lot of moods, mostly irritable moods, and I just started with the foggy brain and headaches from lack of carbs. I started exercising Wednesday – and I went very light. I ran half of what I usually run and I lift more than half of the weight that I usually do. It was a great success but I am very aware of the toll it took on my body. When you are doing low carb, moderate protein and high fat, you have to be aware of how much you are lifting- cause your body needs protein to lift and help repair the muscles. So it’s very important you are logging your food – and counting your macros of what you are doing. Listen to your body and follow it. When you feel like you need to rest, just rest. Diet is so important when fueling the body and when you drastically change a diet like this- you have to pay attention to everything you are doing.

If you are doing Keto diet, what are you doing for exercise? I’ll be posting my routine here soon, marking my top weight and my run.

I was hesitant to talk about this. This is such a controversial way of changing the way you eat. For those who don’t know- Keto stands for Ketosis. Ketosis is a natural process the body initiates to help us survive when food intake is low. Now before you freak out, and think of starvation, hear me out. During this state, we produce Ketones, which are produced from thebreakdown of fats in the liver.

Keto is a low carb lifestyle change. Notice, I’m not saying diet anymore. This isn’t a diet for me, I’m changing the way I eat – for a lifestyle change. This is low carb, moderate protein and high in fat. All of our lives we have been taught that a high fat diet will cause weight gain and other health problems. Now with scientific studies- that has changed. You can read more about that here.

I’m not here to try to change your mind. I’m here to tell everyone about my keto journey. Again, I was hesitant to even write about it, as this is a way of eating that is so controversial. Eat fat and lose weight? I know it sounds crazy. I have been keto for about 5 days straight now, and its a journey that I have to write about. I’ve been raised on carbs, since I was young we lived on welfare and my parents did the best they can do to keep food on table. Rice from our culture and breads can go a long way. All this is understandable. Also, I’m human. Who doesn’t love pizza. Who would rather have fried chicken than baked chicken? The weekend passed and my family was over the house, it was harder than anything to keep my carbs down.

My Plan

This is my second time around with keto change. And I encourage everyone who is interested about it – to please READ about it. Get all your info and do your research. Don’t do what I did. I thought, Great, low carb diet, I can do this, veggies and meat all day long. I was wrong. I use Keto Sticks to measure when I was on ketosis to let myself know when my body was turning into a fat burning machine. And I ended up convincing myself that those sticks were bullsh*t. I purchased mine online, but you can find them at any local pharmacy. They are sticks that you urinate on and you match the color on the stick to see if you are in ketosis. The darker purple means you are and lighter means you have traces of ketosis and you’re on your way.

Photo by Walmart

When I first did keto, I snacked a lot and I ate a lot of vegetables. I also didn’t realize I was taking too much protein in – drinking a lot of shakes trying to keep myself full. I did not track my eating, and I did not drink enough water. I did keto for a full month and I only lost maybe 2 pounds. I gave up.

I recommend to track your food when you first start keto. I’ve only done keto for 5 days, and my stick is full purple- letting me know my body is full ketosis. Like I said before, when I only lost 2 pounds in a month, that stick never turned purple and I went crazy not knowing what was going on. Remember do your research!

H2O

I’m fortunate to have a work at home job. So I have no excuse to drink a lot of water since the bathroom is maybe 5 feet away. Using my fit bit tracker, I log my water intake- and let me tell you – the first day I didn’t realize how hard it was to drink water! Again, adjust your water intake to your lifestyle. If you have a job where you can’t get up and down a lot, be mindful of how much H2O you’re intaking. This may take a few days to know how much water your body can hold. My goal is drinking a gallon a day- usually during the weekdays- cause the weekends, I’m always out with the family.

Fitness

I love working out. I plan to start my workouts this Wednesday- as this will be a full week I was on keto- and I let my body adjust. You understand when you take away the source of energy that your body is use to (carbohydrates) your body will be tired, while its adjusting to the change. You will feel sluggish, maybe get a headache, etc. This is called the Keto Flu. Read more about it here. This is where your will power comes in, don’t give up! A lot of people go through the Keto Flu and realize this diet isn’t for me! Trust me, I understand, but don’t give up, every body is different and I recommend having a group or partner you can talk to when you are doing keto. You don’t have to be alone!

I’ll be lifting weights and running- alternating it each day. M/W/F – Lift, T/TH – Run. Since I work at home, I’ll be walking a lot too – have to keep moving when you are working a sedentary job.

Foods

I work a full time job, and I have a 1 year old. I have to say time isn’t my friend. I like to keep my foods very simple and make Pinterest my best friend. Make sure you are aware of all the ingredients you are putting in food. Stay away from any process foods and also any products that claim to be low carb (atkins snacks). The more natural you go, the easier and faster you will be in ketosis. If you can count net carbs along with regular carbs, I say go ahead and do so- but again, I like to keep things simple and I count all the carbs.

Using the Tdee Calculater, I counted my macros and use my fit bit app to log everything and see how many grams I’m taking in. The goal is to be under 20, and less is even better. This means monitoring your vegetables and fruit you’re taking in as well. Remember – log everything!

Thanks for following me on my journey. This was a lot of info, but I wanted to share. I just started my keto journey and I’m excited for results. I take weekly pictures, and weigh in weekly. Please let me know about your weight loss journey! We can do this together!

I also add Splenda to my coffee
Probably the most delicious coffee ever.

Recipe:

Coffee

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp of Kerrygold butter

2 tbsp heavy cream
Make sure you have a handheld blender to stir it all up, a simple spoon stir is not going to do it!

Here’s the kind that I have:

Norpro mini Mixer

Photo by Walmart
These are at all local grocery stores usually next to protein blenders and in the coffee aisle.

If you run around the house like me, I work at home- I reccomend putting your bullet proof coffee in a thermos. With the butter, heavy cream and coconut oil in it, the coffee tends to get colder faster.

There are lots of time I never want my photo taken with Xander. I’m too out of shape, I have no make up on, I’m EXHAUSTED, what exactly am I wearing?, did I even brush my teeth?! Then I realized there are moments that will never happen again, moments that are shared between me and my son that we will always have. Always have a camera around, if you’re ever so lucky to capture those moments, and freeze time.

Everyday I’m getting older, and everyday Xander is getting older. We will never be what we were yesterday. So it doesn’t matter what you look like, TAKE those photos. A picture takes an instant out of time, altering life and holding it still.

To the bar that is. Remember that your body will always adapt to whatever you’re doing. So always switch it up a bit, more weight or less weight and more reps – always push your body to the limit and test yourself. I promise you will never regret it afterwards.

Shoes off – Deadlift time

Today I added just a bit more to my bench- I had more time to rest and I felt stronger. I lifted during the middle of the day, not my normal routine, so I had already had breakfast in me. Like I said in previous post, I’ve heard of some lifting in a fasted state and others who can only lift after they have had something to eat before. I have done both, although I haven’t decided or figured out which my body likes. I can say, that I do feel stronger lifting after I have ate something but I understand working out in a fasted state burns more.

It was a great workout today I feel good and I love the consistency of my “me time.”

We got married? Ha! Not quite. When I get a chance I share my pictures on Facebook. Will and I attended a beautiful wedding last night. We don’t dress up often and so I decided to take some pictures of us and share them with our friends and family on Facebook. It was just a picture of us, not the bride and groom so I decided to share that we were at the most romantic wedding, which it was.

Little did I know…that most people thought Will and I got MARRIED. Just got a phone call from my boss thinking that I had got married! So funny, I laughed and laughed and said, no that’s not us, just some friends. Looking at the pictures I can guess that it may have looked like we were at a court house maybe? Will looked very handsome in his tux for sure, but I just want my friends to know that if I did get married- this dress would not be the chosen one.

Will and I are living the rebel life, we have been together 10 years, 11 this July- and we just never got around to “get married.” When we were younger it was always “lets wait till we have the money, lets wait till we finish school..” Then we had a health scare with me- and I wanted Xander more than any wedding ceremony could give us. All these years, Will has given me everything I could have ever wanted in a partner, trust, compassion, and all the love. Will we get married? Probably, I can’t tell you if we will elope to Vegas or have the Beach wedding I use to want when I was 18, we are just taking things day by day.

I just wanted to share though, how funny a picture, and a few words can really make someone think differently!

Workout that is. Today was weightlifting day…and I did it early in the AM..fasted. It’s very different weight lifting without any calories in you than it is when there is food in you. You feel stronger with more energy when you lift with food in you. I have heard many things about both, I always suggest to do what makes you feel more comfortable. Now that I have done both, I have to say, I may have to wait till I have had breakfast or even lunch time to weight lift. My goal is to lift heavy – building muscle so I need energy to do so. Or I can always quickly make some eggs and toast to eat before my lifting- these are things I need to figure out.

I can always run fasted, that’s never been a problem for me, actually I prefer it. I woke up a little later than usual today, so I had to work out quicker. I thought about doing less weight, but since I have too much pride, I didn’t. I stuck with the same weight I have been lifting. Surprisingly I finished before work, I felt good and I felt stronger. I could tell the difference being fasted but I could still tell how much stronger I’m getting and its only been a week of my consisted lifting and running.

Consistency. I made it a full Monday to Friday lifting and running. This may be nothing to you – but to me it means a whole lot. Being a mother and working full time keeping consistent was something I struggled with ever since I became a mother.

I own a Charge HR and I wear it as my daily accessory

I owe my FitBit friends a big thank you. Recently FitBit community has upgraded their social network. Adding friends has never been so easy and communicating with others about your fitness goals is very inspiring. I’ve added over 20 friends just this week and we all have been encouraging others to reach our own personal goals. This is no competition, the only competitor you have is yourself. I’m not here to promote FitBit, I just have one, but I do recommend opening your social network and surround yourself by others who have the same goals as you do- to improve your fitness and health.

Do you have a Fitbit or some other type of pedometer? I’ve heard the Nike bands and Apple watches are amazing too! Please share with me what motivates you!

I’m focusing on getting my energy back. Focusing on getting my momentum going. When you’re a Mother, and work full time – things get hard, very hard. Hard does not mean you can’t do it, just means you have to find your own way to get through.

Train smarter, not harder is my goal. I have to give myself a certain amount of time before work, before Xander gets up for the day, before the world starts. Before, I had all the time in the world, now my time is even more valuable. I’ve been working on my push/pull method of lifting weights alternating days and incorporating high intensity cardio every other day. I focus on lifting heavier than normal with the rest days given.

My workout goes as this:

Monday-Wednesday-Friday

Deadlift

Bench

Squat

Olympic Ring Pull up

Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday

HIIT Cardio 30 – 45 min

Now I can workout all day- its not a problem, but remember – you can never out work a bad diet. I’m focusing on low healthy carbs with a cheat meal given on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Water is SO important. I can’t stress that enough. I try my best and everything to drink as much water as I can.

Working out is my favorite past time- it gives me peace and completely clears my mind

Consistency is key. Even if it isn’t routine, I learned that consistency is what keeps you going. There are some days I can’t work out early in the AM (because my son was up all night) so I’ll workout in the evening. You make time for what’s most important to you.

It was a good weightlifting day, lifting early in the AM (fasted) is very different from lifting in the evening after having some food. I’ve kept my log up so I know where I am at and how much I will improve in lifting.

Thanks for stopping by – do you have a fitness plan/diet you would like to share?